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Lake Merial parcel rezoned

By Matthew Beaton / The News Herald

Published: Monday, May 13, 2013 at 08:12 PM.

Though it’s been slow going for the development — building only about a tenth of the community’s projected units since its inception — there’s plenty of optimism about it now, as it begins to take shape.

“The beginning stages of any neighborhood are difficult because people can’t visualize exactly what this looks like,” Kuglar said, “but when you come into
Lake
M
er
i
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now, we have enough homes; we have enough lots that have been built on, where people can get a very good view of what this neighborhood is going to continue to look like.”

SAND HILLS — The BayCountyCommission did some mop-up work last week, ensuring homogenous zoning for a residential development in the Sand Hills area.

The move rezoned an 18.5-acre parcel from agriculture to rural residential. The property is part of the LakeMerial Inc. development, which encompasses 2,144 acres in the northern part of the county off State 77. The development is about halfway through its Phase I build-out.

The change allows for four units per acre, compared to the previous zoning that allowed only for one unit per 10 acres. There is a stipulation requiring the development have central water and sewer, but it already is tied in to the countysystem.

The zoning change served as a large-scale amendment to the county’s Comprehensive Plan.

LakeMerial’s original development agreement dates back to 1999, which, in part, was meant to rezone all of its property from agriculture to rural residential, but the 18.5-acre parcel was left out.

“We actually discovered this parcel … about six (or) eight months ago,” said Martin Jacobson, county community development director.

The county let LakeMerial’s president, James Maulden, know about the issue, but he initially balked at the notion some land hadn’t been rezoned, Jacobson said.

“They kept denying it,” Jacobson said.

But, the countycouldn’t find any evidence the parcel was rezoned. It may have been overlooked because 14 years ago the county’s mapping technology wasn’t what it is today, Jacobson said. The countydidn’t have electronic geographic information system (GIS) mapping then, and everything was kept on paper, he said.

“And the maps, kind of, didn’t overlap well enough, and that piece was left out,” he said.

But the accident did carry a price tag. The application fee to rezone the property was $2,720, Jacobson said.

Phase I build-out

Maulden said the development is still in Phase I — 160 acres, which will yield around 150 homes and plenty of green space. In total, the development will include 7,000 units, but it remains to be seen how quickly it will move into Phase II.

“It depends on demand, but it’s moving along,” Maulden said.

As far as rezoning the 18.5 acres goes, that “just fell though the cracks” initially, Maulden said.

D.R. Horton’s lead sales agent for the development, Kathy Kuglar, said she didn’t know how soon Phase II would start, calling it the “magical question.” But, she said, the negotiations are under way.

“That’s all I’ve been given,” she said.

D.R. Horton buys all the lots and builds all of the homes at LakeMerial. Right now, it has 41 homes under construction and nearly 20 already have been finished and are occupied, Kuglar said.

There were a few builders prior to D.R. Horton’s arrival, but they only accounted for about five or six homes, Kuglar said. Now D.R. Horton is LakeMerial’s only builder and has been there about a year-and-a-half.

Though it’s been slow going for the development — building only about a tenth of the community’s projected units since its inception — there’s plenty of optimism about it now, as it begins to take shape.

“The beginning stages of any neighborhood are difficult because people can’t visualize exactly what this looks like,” Kuglar said, “but when you come into LakeMerial now, we have enough homes; we have enough lots that have been built on, where people can get a very good view of what this neighborhood is going to continue to look like.”